Frontline Talk CNC Retrofit (SINUMERIK 840D)

CNC Design Melbourne office has recently completed an CNC Retrofit of a Newall Elga Mill with Siemens SINUMERIK 840D and SIMODRIVE 611D drive system. The machine stopped on the 20th of December 1999 and was back in production on the 14th of January 2000.

CNC Design's Peter Eicher spoke with Mr. Brian Millar, Production Manager of Frontline Australasia.

Peter: Bian, what was the reason to consider a retrofit for your Newall Elga Mill ?

Brian: The constant down time due to breakdown was killing us, having to supply large components on a just in time schedule with a major company was tough enough. The added pressure of constant machine stopages made life a misery for our team.

Why did you choose CNC Design as your partner for this retrofit?

CNC Design were the natural choice as they had a long established history with servicing the machine.

What was the main goal you wanted to achieve with this retrofit and was it achieved ?

Our goal was to have reliable machine that consistantly performed its required operation. To date the machine has performed the expectation.

What is your first impression of the overall project?

I would like to say the one thing that stands out, was the short period of time the retrofit took to complete as we only had a short window of opportunity. My team are very happy with the result so far.

And finally, would you consider to do another retrofit with CNC Design ?

I would have to say this result has changed the way I view retrofits. CNC Design would be my first port of call for future needs.